Craft Yourself Silly launches online fabric and quilt design service

An award-winning crafting company launched a brand-new service over the weekend, with an exclusive screening on Hochanda. On Sunday, Craft Yourself Silly shared with the nation SewBug; a new piece of online software that allows craft fans to design their own fabric and quilting patterns.

With three options to choose from, SewBug is user-friendly and super easy to navigate, making it the perfect tool for seasoned quilters and newbies to the world of crafting alike. The first option allows users to pick pre-set patterns and colour the design from a range of palettes, meaning crafters can create fabrics to suit other materials in their crafty stash for a fully coordinated look.

Option two takes SewBug to the next level, allowing users to create their own patterns by dragging and dropping a whole host of different shapes on the virtual fabric. From there, like option one, users can colour the material according to their tastes or to match in with other crafting projects they’re working on.

Finally, option three completes the range of functions offered by SewBug. Thanks to its innovative development, at this stage, SewBug allows users to take the patterns that they have created and turn them into a quilt. Dragging and dropping the designs into a grid-like frame, each pattern can be turned, coloured and re-arranged to make a beautifully bespoke and totally unique quilt.

Commenting on the launch, Hayley Smith, managing director of Craft Yourself Silly, said: “We’re really pleased to be able to launch this brand-new product to the market. It’s been a long time in the planning and development stage, but we have something that we’re super proud of and hope will be a big hit with crafters and quilters alike.

“Anyone can use SewBug. It’s user-friendly and really intuitive. A straight forward case of dragging and dropping the different elements from a simple and easy-to-use control panel. And because this software has been designed with everyone in mind – regardless of their quilting ability – you can even use SewBug while sitting on the sofa with an iPad in your lap. It really is that easy and offers hours of design fun.”

In addition to the pattern design, option three of SewBug also allows users to customise their quilt with finishing touches. The software includes sashing functionality and the ability to add up to three borders. What’s more, the shape of each pattern square, the sashes and borders can be scaled up or down in size at the click of a button.

To give a truly seamless process, SewBug calculates the exact amount of fabric the user needs in order to bring their creation to life, automatically adding it to the online basket at the Craft Yourself Silly website, so orders can be placed at the simple click of a button.

Once the fabric order has been processed and delivered, it’s a case of assembling the different elements of the quit design together. For the new-comers to crafting and those with less advanced skills, thanks to Craft Yourself Silly’s in-house fabric printing service, the whole finished pattern can be printed onto one piece of fabric, requiring the user to simply back their designs to create the quilt.

Hayley added: “For crafters looking for something extra special, when designing their quilt, they can take photos using their smartphone and upload it to SewBug. During option three, the design can also then include some personal pictures to arrange using the tile functionality. Then, because we’re one of the few crafting businesses in the country to own a photographic Mimaki Tx300P-180 printing machine, we can also bring these designs to life on the materials in high definition.

“The options SewBug gives crafters – regardless of skill level – really is endless. We’re opening up the joy of quilting and giving people the pleasure of creating something from your own design from scratch. In testing, SewBug was so well received, with some people even saying it’s slightly addictive, being able to play and creatively experiment with designs from the comfort of their own home. We hope crafters will enjoy SewBug as much as we have developing the new service.”

A free version of SewBug is available for all to use via the Craft Yourself Silly website with limited designs, patterns and colours to choose from. To gain access to all of SewBug’s functionality and design option, the service costs £24 for one year’s subscription. However, Craft Yourself Silly is offering the service at a special introductory price of just £20 for a limited time only.